And Then They Came After Soda 

Cigarettes and soda are practically the same anyway, right?

In reports to be published in science journals this week, two groups of researchers hope to add evidence to the theory that soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks don't just go hand-in-hand with obesity, but actually cause it. Not that these drinks are the only cause -- genetics, exercise and other factors are involved -- but that they are one cause, perhaps the leading cause.

A small point? In reality, proving this would be a scientific leap that could help make the case for higher taxes on soda, restrictions on how and where it is sold -- maybe even a surgeon general's warning on labels.

"We've done it with cigarettes," said one scientist advocating this, Barry Popkin at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Via The Agitator. Upon hearing of this study, several members of the Milwaukee Common Council were seen fighting over the honor of introducing the ban on drinking carbonated beverages in public. After all, we shouldn't underestimate the possible ill effects of second hand carbonation. One member of the Common Council then said:

I don't know how many times my own wife has told me a story about watching someone eating a fattening food, and then gaining weight afterwards from just seeing it. If that's not proof, then I don't know what is. Why aren't there warnings on boxes of Twinkies?!

Bob, your government weight watcher, will be around tomorrow to talk with you about your eating habits.